Republican Derrick Van Orden’s campaign released a radio ad accusing U.S. Rep. Ron Kind, D-La Crosse, of “playing politics with our lives” and failing to back the police.
The campaign said the ad is running district-wide over the next two weeks, but it didn’t provide other specifics.
The spot features Pepin County Sheriff Joel Wener, who says Kind told western Wisconsin sheriffs shortly after riots in Minneapolis that he “had our backs” and was for law enforcement. Wener then says Kind supported a bill that would eliminate qualified immunity for officers while they’re on the job. To make it worse, Wener says, Kind was a co-sponsor of the bill.
“It was all politics. To me, a man’s word is his bond, but Ron Kind doesn’t back our police,” Wener says.